Michael Eichinger1, Henry Douglas Pow Robb2, Cosmo Scurr3, Harriet Tucker4, Stefan Heschl5, George Peck6. 1. Major Trauma and Cutrale Perioperative and Ageing Group, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK. Michael.eichinger@nhs.net. 2. Academic Clinical Fellow in General Surgery, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK. 3. Department of Anaesthesia, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK. 4. Emergency Department St George's Hospital, London, UK. 5. Department of Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, Medical University Hospital, Graz, Austria. 6. Cutrale Peri-operative and Ageing Group, Imperial College London, London, UK.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Despite a widely acknowledged increase in older people presenting with traumatic injury in western populations there remains a lack of research into the optimal prehospital management of this vulnerable patient group. Research into this cohort faces many uniqu1e challenges, such as inconsistent definitions, variable physiology, non-linear presentation and multi-morbidity. This scoping review sought to summarise the main challenges in providing prehospital care to older trauma patients to improve the care for this vulnerable group. METHODS AND FINDINGS: A scoping review was performed searching Google Scholar, PubMed and Medline from 2000 until 2020 for literature in English addressing the management of older trauma patients in both the prehospital arena and Emergency Department. A thematic analysis and narrative synthesis was conducted on the included 131 studies. Age-threshold was confirmed by a descriptive analysis from all included studies. The majority of the studies assessed triage and found that recognition and undertriage presented a significant challenge, with adverse effects on mortality. We identified six key challenges in the prehospital field that were summarised in this review. CONCLUSIONS: Trauma in older people is common and challenges prehospital care providers in numerous ways that are difficult to address. Undertriage and the potential for age bias remain prevalent. In this Scoping Review, we identified and discussed six major challenges that are unique to the prehospital environment. More high-quality evidence is needed to investigate this issue further.
BACKGROUND: Despite a widely acknowledged increase in older people presenting with traumatic injury in western populations there remains a lack of research into the optimal prehospital management of this vulnerable patient group. Research into this cohort faces many uniqu1e challenges, such as inconsistent definitions, variable physiology, non-linear presentation and multi-morbidity. This scoping review sought to summarise the main challenges in providing prehospital care to older traumapatients to improve the care for this vulnerable group. METHODS AND FINDINGS: A scoping review was performed searching Google Scholar, PubMed and Medline from 2000 until 2020 for literature in English addressing the management of older traumapatients in both the prehospital arena and Emergency Department. A thematic analysis and narrative synthesis was conducted on the included 131 studies. Age-threshold was confirmed by a descriptive analysis from all included studies. The majority of the studies assessed triage and found that recognition and undertriage presented a significant challenge, with adverse effects on mortality. We identified six key challenges in the prehospital field that were summarised in this review. CONCLUSIONS:Trauma in older people is common and challenges prehospital care providers in numerous ways that are difficult to address. Undertriage and the potential for age bias remain prevalent. In this Scoping Review, we identified and discussed six major challenges that are unique to the prehospital environment. More high-quality evidence is needed to investigate this issue further.
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